Sunday, July 2, 2023

5 things to start your day

Good morning. Janet Yellen heads to China, Tesla sets a sales record, and Macron under pressure to resolve riots in France. Here's what peop

Good morning. Janet Yellen heads to China, Tesla sets a sales record, and Macron under pressure to resolve riots in France. Here's what people are talking about.

Yellen to China

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will travel to Beijing on July 6-9, becoming the second member of Joe Biden's cabinet to head to the Chinese capital in recent weeks as the world's two largest economies look to mend ties after a spate of bilateral tensions. Yellen's trip will take place just three weeks after Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited China, highlighting the efforts by the Biden administration to reinstate lines of communication with counterparts in Beijing.  The trip announcement ends months of speculation over when — and whether — the top US economic policymaker would head to Beijing. Yellen will meet with senior Chinese government officials to discuss the importance of responsibly managing the US-China relationship, communicating directly about areas of concern, and working together to address global challenges, the Treasury Department said.

Tesla Sales Record

Tesla delivered a record 466,140 cars worldwide in results posted Sunday, outpacing Wall Street estimates. The results demonstrated that Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk's vow to chase volume by cutting prices has had its intended effect. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg had expected the company to ship 448,350 cars in the quarter. The deliveries are the most ever in a quarter for Austin-based Tesla, and a 83% increase from a year ago. Demand for clean vehicles also buoyed results from BYD, China's biggest-selling car brand, which posted its best-ever quarterly sales results for new-energy vehicles — which includes fully-electric cars and plug-in hybrids. 

Riots in France

French President Emmanuel Macron is counting on law enforcement to restore order after almost a week of nationwide riots touched off by a police officer's fatal shooting of a teenager. Macron met with key cabinet ministers into the evening hours on Sunday in his latest attempt to craft a response to the violence, which is testing his authority and ability to carry out reforms. He's keeping some 45,000 police, special forces and armored vehicles deployed to contain clashes that have left hundreds of public buildings and shops damaged or ransacked in cities including Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Strasbourg. The shooting of Nahel, a 17-year-old of North African descent, remains a flashpoint in a crisis over racism and inequality in France that's drawing comparisons with America's reaction to the murder of George Floyd in 2020. 

UK Politics

Rishi Sunak faces an awkward three-week political test that is likely to have a lasting impact on his premiership and even his chances of upsetting the polls by winning the next UK general election. Parliament goes on summer recess on July 20, the same day Sunak's ruling Conservatives face elections in three parliamentary seats triggered by the resignation of Tory MPs. Good results would give the prime minister a major boost through the holiday and into a fall political season that will be critical to shifting predictions of a Tory loss in a national poll expected in 2024. Yet a strong Conservative performance would be against the recent trend. A visit by US President Joe Biden, doctors strikes that will hobble Sunak's pledge to cut hospital waiting times, a predicted uptick in asylum seekers arriving from France on small boats and any political fallout from the financial concerns surrounding Britain's biggest water supplier will go a long way toward shaping the mood of Tory MPs as they head back to their districts.

Coming Up...

European equity futures edged higher in Asian trading after Wall Street gauges advanced on Friday, capping a rally in US equities in the first half of the year. Data due Monday includes UK and Euro-area June manufacturing purchasing managers index figures and Swiss inflation data.

This week's MLIV Pulse survey asks, will this earnings season push stocks up or down? Is the AI impact on tech earnings warranted or overblown? Click here to share your views.

What We've Been Reading

This is what's caught our eye over the past 24 hours

Calling all startups

And finally, this is what Áine is interested in this morning

Wheat prices are set to keep falling, thanks to the prospect of good harvests in Russia and Europe.

Harvests are well under way in the US, France and Russia as the new export season begins, bringing new supplies to the market and helping wheat fall more than 10% this past week. Still, prices have been volatile over the past nine months, with major shipper Ukraine facing repeated obstacles to its grain exports since Russia's invasion.

The recent instability in Russia had sent prices spiking, but another bumper harvest there this season should help keep prices under control. While crops in the Americas and North Africa are suffering from extreme weather, Europe's fields still look relatively healthy.

Áine Quinn is a reporter covering food and agriculture in Europe for Bloomberg News based in London.

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